Mother Teresa and her Jesuit spiritual director

Fr. John Hardon SJ and Mother Teresa

Father Hardon participated in various apostolates to religious communities.  In the early 1980s, Pope John Paul II instructed Mother Teresa of Calcutta to have her order evangelize the poor in addition to looking after their material needs.  When she stated she didn't know where to begin such an endeavor, the Pope referred her to Cardinal Ratzinger, who called upon Hardon to instruct her Missionaries of Charity. To fill this need Hardon wrote a catechetical course for Mother Teresa's order. The course later was adapted and used to create two catechetical home study courses for lay Catholics. In 1985 Hardon founded the Marian Catechist Apostolate, an organization that uses these home study courses to provide catechetical formation to lay people in order to prepare them for catechetical ministry.  - wiki

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In fact, some had wrote that their friendship would cast doubt on if Mother Teresa would be beatified.

Update:

After the 9:30 Latin Mass at the Shrine this Sunday the Friars will be having public veneration of a 2nd class relic belonging to Mother Teresa of Calcutta "her personal handkerchief"

Fr. John Hardon: The Catholic Church in the United States will survive only....

So many people marrying nowadays, “marrying” do not really enter into an indissoluble union. For one thing, they must want children. Another couple, same thing, I was asked to talk to them. Same thing my council lasted about a month. Same thing they found somebody else to continue - she was Catholic and he had no faith. So we talked and I said, “You know, to be validly married you must want children.” “Oh, we do want children eventually.” “What is that eventually?” “Well, several years.” And they were both from well to do families. So I did everything I could to discourage them. Evidently I did not succeed. But we are living in a world where an indissoluble marriage is a dream. It is not even an ideal - it is unrealistic.

And among professed Christians this was the key premise for the separation of the Eastern Orthodox from union with Rome. Starting from the seventh and finally standardized in the thirteenth century. All kinds of annulments the Eastern Bishops were giving their people. The Pope kept telling them, warning them, but they wouldn’t listen. He would remove a bishop, then the next bishop would do the same thing. The Catholic Church in the United States will survive only, “solo” in Latin, only where there are still parishes and diocese where Catholics believe that once they enter a sacramental marriage and that marriage is consummated by natural intercourse no power on earth, no bishop, no conference of bishops, no pope, can dissolve that union.

Sacrament of Matrimony Series: The Unity and Indissolubility of Marriage

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Fr. John Hardon: Did I ever tell you about my Episcopalian friend?

Fr John Hardon SJ

Fr. John Hardon Archives(circ. 1993):

Did I ever tell you about my Episcopalian friend? I must have. *Burns Seeley? Well I had his wife in class in Western Michigan. I can’t believe it, in 1963. Can you imagine thirty years ago. Well she came to me after one of the classes, I had mentioned about Anglican orders not being valid. “Gosh, I thought my husband was a priest (an Episcopalian minister or pastor married)”. So we talked. Well, in 1970 to commemorate the centennial of Papal Infallibility being defined, Bishop of Joliet, Illinois had me organize a series of lectures, commemorating Papal Infallibility. And among the men I got to speak during gymnasium full of people was my Episcopalian pastor. The bishop called me up, “It says here he is an Episcopalian, we’re talking about Papal Infallibility.”

“Yes, I know Bishop. This man will defend Papal Infallibility better than many Catholics.” Then I must have said this before, but at least somebody may not have heard it. When he got up, he told the Catholics, “Hold on to your Papal Infallibility. That is what has kept me sane.” An Episcopalian said that!

“Couples come to me”, said the Episcopalian pastor, “they want to get remarried, they just had a divorce and they have the wedding date set and everything - all the formalities and they want to make wedding arrangements. I tell them, I cannot marry you. ‘What?’ No. I don’t believe in divorce and remarriage. Well, they stormed out of the rectory and complained to the bishop.”

And this Protestant Episcopalian pastor told me, “How many times I have been called in by the Bishop ‘Burns remember, we are not Roman Catholics, we are Episcopalians. We give divorce and the right to remarry.’” Finally, *Burns couldn’t take it any longer, he had to become a Catholic.

So this was the basic issue over which Protestantism came into existence in the sixteenth century. And this is the growing position of dissident Catholic writers and activist urging a change in Catholic teaching.

One of the great joys in working even over the unexplicated edition of the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It does need a lot of “cleaning up” (Cardinal Law’s translation), but English could not be clearer. In other words, once you marry, you are baptized, your partner is baptized, you have natural intercourse after marriage. That is it! And this is going to be the fate of the Catholic Church in our country-no question about it, unless someone does something soon.

also: Coming Home Network: Conversion Story of Rev. Burns K. Seeley

Fr. John Hardon on Hans Urs Von Balthasar all are saved theory

via Dumb Ox

Fr. John Hardon, S.J., On The Capital Sins

via Good Jesuit Bad Jesuit

Fr. John Hardon, S.J., " Communion In The Hand—I Wish To Repeat And Make As Plain As I Can—Is A Weakening, A Conscious, Deliberate Weakening Of Faith In The Real Presence"

[Fr. John Hardon:] "We were at concelebrated Mass with the Holy Father, and we were absolutely forbidden to give Communion in the hands. Communion in the hand, Communion in the hand began, in the hand, with the publication of the Dutch Catechism with nobody's permission except the bishops—in effect, in principle separated themselves from the Holy See. One country after another began then to ask for permission, which the Dutch bishops never asked for, permission to receive Communion in the hand. I was asked by the [U.S.] bishops' conference to write a defense of Communion on the tongue, and I can again talk for hours.

"In the very, very early Church, Communion was given in the hands. However, as the faith of the Christians weakened in the Real Presence, by the 5th, 6th centuries Communion on the tongue became mandatory—remained mandatory until the present century. Behind Communion in the hand—I wish to repeat and make as plain as I can—is a weakening, a conscious, deliberate weakening of faith in the Real Presence.

And the American hierarchy took most—three times, those wanting Communion in the hand kept pushing and pushing.

continue at Good Jesuit Bad Jesuit

Abp. Listecki invokes Fr. John Hardon

For me, last Saturday Nov. 2, was an all-Catholic day. It began early in the morning with the celebration of three Masses on the feast of All Souls. On All Souls Day, a priest is allowed to celebrate three Masses: one for personal intentions, another for the faithful and the third for the intentions of the Pope (Pope Francis certainly needs our prayers). Remembering the souls of the dead is extremely important. During my grammar school years, the good sisters reminded all of us to pray especially for the most neglected souls in purgatory.

Many Catholics have forgotten the teaching on purgatory. Father Hardon, S.J., explains: “Purgatory is the place or condition in which the souls of the just are purified after death and before they enter heaven.” (Modern Catholic Dictionary) It’s consoling to me that I can assist those souls even after death with my prayers and good works.

It’s also important to note that the souls in purgatory can intercede for us. In a world where we are never held responsible and it’s almost unthinkable that God would hold us accountable for our actions the poor souls in purgatory become victims of theological complacency. My sister Penny always reminds me to pray for the most neglected soul in Purgatory. I hope that this neglected soul is interceding for all of us.

continue at Arch Mil 

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What does the Church teach about ghosts

Fr. John Hardon, SJ in his Modern Catholic Dictionary defines "ghost" as:

... a disembodied spirit. Christianity believes that God may, and sometimes does, permit a departed soul to appear in some visible form to people on earth. Allowing for legend and illusion, there is enough authentic evidence, for example in the lives of the saints, to indicate that such apparitions occur. Their purpose may be to teach or warn, or request some favor of the living” (p. 229).

That is to say it does not always involve a preternatural presence.  

More at  "Holy Ghosts" by Gary Jansen.

Holy Guardian Angels, orate pro nobis!

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You are holy?  Your guardian angel is not impressed.

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Fr John Hardon:

I think it is worth spending a few minutes on this prelude before we go on to explain the role of the guardian angels in our lives.

We know that an angel has no body, and yet we dare not say he is nobody. Our modern world is so intoxicated with materialism that millions actually think that unless something or someone has weight and size and shape it is not real. That is not only untrue; it is a demonic lie.

Back to our guardian angel. He is very real, even though he cannot be perceived by our senses. He has a mind that is always thinking of God, and a will that is always united with God. He has been specially appointed as our companion through life. And he exercises this companionship by his constant assistance in illuminating our minds and inspiring our wills.

Fr. Hardon: The Holy Spirit as Power

via EWTN: This article was taken from the Pentecost 1994 issue of "The Catholic Home Educator".

We speak of the Holy Spirit in many different ways: as Love, as Gift, as the Paraclete, as the Advocate. All of these titles are biblical and identify some of the profound attributes of the Spirit promised by Christ before his Ascension into Heaven. But there is one that we especially need to recognize today and that is the Spirit as Power. What does this Spirit as Power really mean? Let us analyze it in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which pertain to the will. 

Piety as a gift of the Holy Spirit aids and supplements the virtue of justice. This gift corresponds to the virtue of justice, making us prompt to act by disposing us to show reverence for God as a most loving Father and for all human beings as children of God. Consequently, this virtue of piety corresponds to the instinct we have and the virtue we should practice toward our natural parents, and the respect and reverence for God precisely as the Creator. This gift of piety, raised to the supernatural order, inclines us to not only worship God but to honor His children who are related to us by grace. It inclines us to consider others not as competitors in the struggle of life, but coequals under God, our common Maker, regarding them as our brothers and sisters through the saving merits of Christ's Passion.

Fortitude as a gift perfects the virtue of fortitude.  It adds to the virtue of courage the important commodity of enabling us to carry to successful conclusion the most difficult tasks that are undertaken in the service of God.  There are two forms of courage implied in this gift of fortitude: the gift to undertake arduous tasks and the gift to endure long and trying difficulties for the divine glory. A commendable type of courage anticipates grave obstacles while undertaking a course of action or a state of life or a new venture in the spiritual life or any apostolate, but the obstacles, vaguely foreseen, are faced with a quiet trust in Providence that inspires willingness to suffer in the prosecution of the plan. Another form or courage augments this dauntless spirit and continues what someone else initiated and-finding oneself weary from unexpected trials, persecution and external failure-it still continues on to the end. When Christ died on the Cross it seemed an external failure. Faith alone tells us it was the greatest internal success of all human history. Both of these types of courage are necessary for salvation and certainly for sanctification.

Fear of the Lord, the third gift of the Spirit as Power, strengthens the virtue of hope. It impels us to a profound respect for the majesty of God. Its correlative effects are to protect us from sin through dread of offending the Lord and by giving us strong confidence in the power of God's help. In filial fear, which is selfless, we dread to offend God, Whom we love. This is a sense in which the highest love of God is compatible with the fear of the Lord.

Christ promised not only His disciples, but us, that we would receive "power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." This power is not only for ourselves but for others that we, being strengthened, might witness to Him Who strengthens us. When Christ said, "You will be my witnesses," St. Luke, writing in Greek, used another word-"You will be my martyrs." We are bidden to witness as martyrs. How? By the way we live, which is the most eloquent witness we can offer.

One of the problems today is that some Catholic families are being estranged from the Faith by their own priests. The cavalier way in which some priests deal with the liturgy, their indifference to the Church's doctrine on faith and morals, and even their open hostility to the Vicar of Christ have estranged many of the faithful. Not a few have taken refuge with the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre. It is imperative that these people be reunited with the Vicar of Christ. We must pray. But we should also put them into contact with priests who are loyal to our Catholic heritage. A practical recommendation: write to Father C. Frank Phillips, C.R, Pastor at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago. His address is 825 N. Carpenter Street, Chicago, IL 60622.

There should be some sort of outreaching by all of us that others will glorify God and come to know Christ not only by seeing us as persons, but by whatever means or instrumentalities are at our disposal. We are to witness by who we are, by what we say, and also by our suffering. This is where the word martyr is so critical. We are expected to suffer for our faith if we wish to witness to Christ. The graces are there. By prior definition, such a gift benefits the one to whom it is given only if he appropriates and uses it. The problem with most of us is not that we don't have enough graces or gifts- though God knows we always need more- the real problem is to put to use the graces we have already been given.

What good are all the treasures of heaven which Christ has conferred on us-His most beloved children and people of God-unless we use them? Here lies the difference between those who are good Christians but remain until death in mediocrity and those who strive for, and reach, sanctity. It is up to us! And, strange as it may seem, when God sees we appreciate the grace we have by using it, He gives us more. This is the secret of holiness-using the gifts that God gives in order that, having received, we may glorify the Giver.

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Video: Fr. John Hardon on the Immaculate Conception

This is classic Hardon, like Chesterton, he has a distinct style which it takes a little bit to get used to, but once you do he'll knock your socks off.

Fr. John Hardon S.J. Archive and Guild has been closed

Father John A.Hardon, S.J. Archive and Guild
4440 Maryland Avenue
St. Louis, Mo 63108

Dear Friends in Christ,

As of last Friday, March 15, 2013 the Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archive and Guild has been closed.

All inquiries about the work of the Archive and Guild and the future of the Cause should be directed to:

Eternal Life
902 W. Stephen Foster Avenue
Bardstown, KY 40004-2402

Phone: 800 - 842 - 2871 or 502 - 348 - 3963
Email: wjsjmj@bardstowncable.net

Thank you for your help and interest in promoting the work of the Servant of God,
Father John A. Hardon, S.J.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Father Robert T. McDermott

I have no idea what happened. 

America's Gandalf

I went back to Tolkien for inspiration, to an old catechism for answers, and employed some real skepticism at last. I saw that my newly cultivated doubts were cheap excuses, blasé retorts to the ultimate questions, graffiti sprayed across the Sistine ceiling. As once I'd read The Silmarillion to explicate The Hobbit, now I delved into the Catholic Encyclopedia, delighting in the real complexity, the exquisite depths and heights and breadth of God's love and truth, His works and world. I found my very own Gandalf in Rev. John Hardon, S.J., who graciously let me sit in on his college classes.

 read the whole article over at Bad Catholic Bingo Hall

Our Gandalf has fallen into Shadow(earthly death), but perhaps through his canonization God might reveal to us our Gandalf the White. 

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Call to Martyrdom talk by Cardinal Burke

Pretty awkward into...


HT Aristotle

Fr. John Hardon: Peace on Earth

The angelic host promises peace on earth, but a peace that is conditional. What is the condition? The condition is a good will on our part. Our will is good when we accept God’s will in our lives, no matter how painful it may be. We accept God’s will in our lives, no matter what price we may have to pay. The reward that awaits us here on earth is deep interior peace of soul, and the promise of everlasting peace in the life to come.

How many people are deceived into thinking they can have peace by doing their own will. That is a demonic lie. Christ the Prince of peace assures us that our serenity of spirit depends on our conformity to His divine will.

- Fr. John Hardon

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Fr. Hardon: How the Miraculous Medal Changed My Life

One of the most memorable experiences that I ever had was with the Miraculous Medal! It changed my life.

In the fall of 1948, the year after my ordination, I was in what we call the Tertianship. This is a third year of Novitiate before taking final vows.

In October of that year, a Vincentian priest came to speak to us young Jesuit priests. He encouraged us to obtain faculties, as they are called, to enroll people in the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal. Among other things, he said, "Fathers, the Miraculous Medal works. Miracles have been performed by Our Lady through the Miraculous Medal."

I was not impressed by what the Vincentian priest was telling. I was not the medal-wearing kind of person and I certainly did not have a Miraculous Medal. But I thought to myself, "It does not cost anything." So I put my name down to get a four page leaflet from the Vincentians, with the then-Latin formula for blessing Miraculous Medals and enrolling people in the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal. About two weeks later, I got the leaflet for blessing and enrollment, put it into my office book and forgot about it.

In February of the next year, I was sent to assist the chaplain of St. Alexis Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. I was to be there helping the regular chaplain for two weeks.

Each morning I received a list of all the patients admitted into the hospital that day. There were so many Catholics admitted that I could not visit them all as soon as they came.

Among the patients admitted was a boy about nine years old. He had been sled-riding down hill, lost control of the sled and ran into a tree head-on. He fractured his skull and X-rays showed he had suffered severe brain damage.

When I finally got to visit his room at the hospital, he had been in a coma for ten days, no speech, no voluntary movements of the body. His condition was such that the only question was whether he would live. There was no question of recovering from what was diagnosed as permanent and inoperble brain damage.

After blessing the boy and consoling his parents, I was about to leave his hospital room. But then a thought came to me. "That Vincentian priest. He said, 'The Miraculous Medal works.' Now this will be a test of its alleged miraculous powers!"

I didn't have a Miraculous Medal of my own. And everyone I asked at the hospital also did not have one. But I persisted, and finally one of the nursing sisters on night duty found a Miraculous Medal.

What I found out was that you don't just bless the medal, you have to put it around a person's neck on a chain or ribbon. So the sister-nurse found a blue ribbon for the medal, which made me feel silly. What was I doing with medals and blue ribbons.

However, I blessed the medal and had the father hold the leaflet for investing a person in the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal. I proceeded to recite the words of investiture. No sooner did I finish the prayer of enrolling the boy in the Confraternity than he opened his eyes for the first time in two weeks. He saw his mother and said, "Ma, I want some ice cream." He had been given only intravenous feeding.

continue at Real Presence

St. Catherine Laborè, ora pro nobis!

HT Terry @ Abbey Roads

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The best Fr. Hardon quote I've heard

"Most zealous Catholics are not as well organized or cooperative as those in the world. One of the hardest things is to get orthodox Catholics to cooperate."

- Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

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Father Hardon's Election Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people [in] America. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Give our citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.

Composed by Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.
Imprimatur: +Rene H. Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, July 7, 1992
Published by Eternal Life in 1992

The Real Presence 

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St. Ignatius of Loyola, ora pro nobis!

Although St. Ignatius is buried in Rome, here is the Basilica of St. Ignatius in Loyola, Basque Country

It is also the Feast of the Dedication of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.  Strange?  Servant of God Fr. John Hardon was very influential in the development of the Shrine, and I guess would be the Shrine's unofficial patron. 

Fr. Hardon: "Let me repeat this sentence..."

Let me repeat this sentence. It is impossible in human language to exaggerate the importance of being in a chapel or church before the Blessed Sacrament as often and for as long as our duties and state of life allow. That sentence is the talisman of the highest sanctity.

- Fr. John Hardon, SJ

From Fr Z:
Today, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence by the public recitation of Iesu dulcissime (Act of Reparation) (Ench. Indulg., al. conc., 3). All other recitations gain a partial indulgence.